On Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at 5:51:33 AM UTC-5, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Mon, 24 Feb 2020 22:29:32 -0800, John Foster wrote:

On Monday, February 24, 2020 at 10:54:56 PM UTC-7, Jim S wrote:
Thanks much!

Why don't we do more winch launching here in the US?

My guess would be two factors:

1) the number of people on the ground at a typical US club on a flying
day

2) if you're sharing the airfield with powered aircraft, the power pilots
don't tend to like winch operations.

As a subsidiary point, the runways at the US clubs I've visited are
narrower than is typical here. Go he 52°11'10.74"N 0° 6'40..44"W
on Google Earth to see what our airfield looks like.

My club in the UK does a lot of winch launching and on normal flying
days, this requires at a minimum a dedicated winch driver and a launch
marshal. The LM controls the launch and may run the glider wing as well:
you DO NOT ever start a winch launch with the glider wing on the ground.
In addition we normally have an assistant for the LM, who drives the Hilux
we use for cable retrieval as well as hooking cables on gliders, helping
to manage the launch log and driving golf buggies to retrieve landed
gliders etc. On a good summer day, around 100 aircraft movements is not
uncommon.

Our main run is 4600ft long and 475 feet wide, so with the cables laid
along one side, and the winch launch point 600-700 feet from the runway
threshold we have plenty of space behind the launch point for gliders to
land and the runway is wide enough for us to have an aero tow launch
queue on the opposite side of the runway. We use radio comms between the
launch points and also between launch point and with the winch, golf
buggies and Hiluxes in case you're wondering.

During weekend flying we roster a winch driver, a Launch Marshal and a LM
assistant. We used to have a few extra people at the launchpoint, so help
with retrieving landed gliders, moving the launch queue, etc wasn't an
issue, but since we moved to using a booking system, the number of spare
bods at the launch point have dropped a lot, and so rostering an
assistant for the LM has become a requirement if we are to maintain a
reasonable launch rate.

We have a two drum winch, so only need to get cables every two launches.
but with just the winch driver and an LM, the launch rate isn't all that
high. However, with a couple of LM assistants and a dedicated cable truck
driver, its possible to maintain rate of 20 launches an hour provided
those in the launch queue get on with things and don't mess about.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org


2) if you're sharing the airfield with powered aircraft, the power pilots
don't tend to like winch operations.

Martin,

this is mainly based on the element of the unknown! We operate off of a country airport with a lot of mixed traffic - everything from large buizz-jets down to motorized parachutes. The solution is a solid operations plan and communication, communication, communication!
We will announce every launch just as any other aircraft taking off.
The announcement includes a warning to approaching traffic not to do a mid-field crossing below X,XXXft (typically the anticipated release altitude +500ft)
The winch monitors the radio for approaching traffic and contacts them to find out, how long it will take for them to be overhead. A Lear Jet will cover the '10 miles out' faster than than a Piper J3. We will then either launch or hold the launch to avoid any conflicts.
We offer winch launches to the local power pilots to show them what it looks like from our perspective.
We actively participate in a city-sponsored youth program introducing youngsters to aviation and the glider rides launched on the winch are the most favorite thing with the participants.

So, the bottom line is that it is possible to operate a winch on a busy airport if one so desires.

Uli
'AS'